FAU Owls Making Noise in Sun Belt Quicker Than Expected

ASU ASU's Matt Mandich is among the Sun Belt's best players.

The old and often quoted Darrell Royal saying "If a dog's gonna bite, he'll bite as a pup" played true in 2007 for Florida Atlantic. Veteran coach Howard Schnellenberger's program was scheduled to arrive in a big way in 2008 but came through the door a year earlier, beating Troy for the Sun Belt Conference championship and then winning the New Orleans Bowl in a rout over Memphis.

Speaking of FAU rocking Memphis, it should be noted that while the rest of the nation may think Conference-USA has some edge over the Sun Belt, the SBC actually handed it to several C-USA foes in nonconference matchups last year and over the past two years holds an 8-7 advantage. And FAU also earned the league a Big Ten scalp by beating Minnesota. Remember, too, that Louisiana-Monroe shocked Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide 21-14 in November.

Schnellenberger, who restored Miami (Fla.) to greatness in the early 1980s then tried his hand at Louisville and Oklahoma around professional stops, seemed to have bitten off too much when he took over the Florida Atlantic program a decade ago. Instead, he's patiently turned them into the Sun Belt's best bet for national exposure in 2008, especially with passing sensation Rusty Smith putting up big numbers.

Troy and coach Larry Blakeney upset Oklahoma State at home, butted heads impressively in a close loss to Georgia and generally may have overscheduled itself, running out of gas by the end of the season in losing at home to FAU. The loss knocked Troy, which was unbeaten in the SBC going in, out of what most expected was a certain postseason appearance.

That failure alone may be able to spark the Trojans back into the top spot of the league, now sporting nine teams. (Western Kentucky, however, is not eligible for the crown as it transitions from Football Championship Subdivision status.)